While a brown recluse is different than a "tiny spider", I don't think it's in the Contract of Carriage that the airline is responsible to keep the cabin completely free of all insects. I've been on many flights with an errant fly and while annoying, there's not much the airline can do.

She could have carried the spider on herself...they just settled to be done with it.

I didn't say that it was necessarily the airline's fault, but it's pretty clear why she sued them.

She assumed, as many people would, that it was the airline's fault for not ensuring that the aircraft was free from things such as venomous spiders, but IMHO that's unrealistic. Brown recluses arre small and can easily conceal themselves. Even if the cabin had been thoroughly treated and examined one of the flight crew or another passenger could have inadvertently brought the spider on the plane in their clothing or luggage when boarding.

She could have brought the spider onboard herself in her clothing, carry-on, purse, etc. This type of spider generally doesn't bite unless something alarms it and then the bite is seen more as a defensive measure on the part of the brown recluse.

Bathia_Mapes:Submitter-gis "brown recluse spider" with safe search turned off and you'll clearly see why she sued.

Bullshiat lawsuit is still bullshiat.

Any one of the passengers could have been responsible for carrying the spider on board, even the lady who was bit. You can't strip search every passenger and go through all the bags just to check for spiders.

This fiasco was an unfortunate incident being unreasonably blamed on a large company for a small amount of money by a clever lawyer who knows it's cheaper to settle than fight.

doglover:Any one of the passengers could have been responsible for carrying the spider on board, even the lady who was bit. You can't strip search every passenger and go through all the bags just to check for spiders.

There's a difference between compensatory damages (I buy something from you, it causes an unexpected injury, you apologize and compensate me) and punitive damages (you sell me something that previously injured someone else, knowing it is dangerous, and perhaps you even alter the records to hide the previous damage.)

I've seen what a brown recluse can do. would I stick my hand into a bag that had a single brown recluse in it to grab a check for $80k? Fark no. Not for ten times that amount.

/why do i have the horrible feeling I've just written the opening episode of America Loves Spider Boo-Boo's?

MisterTweak:I've seen what a brown recluse can do. would I stick my hand into a bag that had a single brown recluse in it to grab a check for $80k? Fark no.

Buk buk buk, bugawk!

Many necrotic lesions are erroneously attributed to the bite of the Brown Recluse, especially in areas outside of its natural habitat. Diagnosis can be difficult because it is usually necessary to retrieve the envenomating spider. There is no known concise chemical test to determine if the venom in a patient is from a Brown Recluse. The bite itself is not usually painful, and is in many cases not felt. Bite victims may delay seeking medical treatment for up to a week. The diagnosis is further complicated by the fact that the brown recluse does not have a remarkable physical appearance. Because of this, other, non-necrotic species are frequently mistakenly identified as a brown recluse. Only a certified arachnologist is able to positively identify a brown recluse specimen as such.

One possible explanation for the disproportionate amount of misdiagnosed bites is the Tegenaria agrestis, also known as the Hobo spider. The T. agrestis may also have a necrotic bite, though these claims are disputed. The matter is being more diligently researched because of some strong circumstantial evidence that the T. agrestis is not necrotic.[4] The area with the highest frequency of questionable brown recluse diagnoses, which is the North West United States, is not within the brown recluse's range. It is, however, the main area where T. agrestis may be found.

But then the small red mark grew into a darkened, crusty, oozing mass of dead skin about the size of a hand. Fever and such severe pain followed that DeLaO couldn't walk up stairs. It was no mosquito, a South African doctor told her - DeLaO had been bit by Loxosceles reclusa, the notorious brown recluse spider, the most dangerous spider in North America.

MisterTweak:There's a difference between compensatory damages (I buy something from you, it causes an unexpected injury, you apologize and compensate me) and punitive damages (you sell me something that previously injured someone else, knowing it is dangerous, and perhaps you even alter the records to hide the previous damage.)

True, and Delta settled to avoid an expensive lawsuit that they might have lost but I still say it's BS.

What if I rent a car and get bit by a brown recluse? Is that really the car rental agency's fault? What if I drove that car to a campground where brown recluses are known to live? In that case can I sue the rental agency AND the campground? Maybe I could sue the car manufacturer too, especially if I were the first person to rent it.

Spider in my apartment? Sue the landlord! Spider in a bunch of bananas the day after I buy them? Sue the grocery store, Chiquita AND my landlord!

I could understand suing if one of the flight attendants bit her. I've seen pictures of brown recluse bites before.

Do you have any idea how difficult it would be to make sure there wasn't a single tiny spider on a plane before each flight?

New Zealand doesn't seem to have an issue with spiders coming in on flights.

Then again, New Zealand pretty much sprays multiple cans of insect killer in the cabin before they ever set down in Kiwiland and either set off foggers or have professional exterminators fumigate the aircraft before it gets to leave or enter ports of call in New Zealand.

Pretty much you have spiders or you have a risk of pyrethrin poisoning, your pick :D

Difficulty--brown recluses are actually surprisingly tough to kill with insecticides; it took four months to clear an infestation out of a Fairdale, KY post office, which gives you an idea how tough it is to get rid of the damn things :P

Happy Hours:MisterTweak: There's a difference between compensatory damages (I buy something from you, it causes an unexpected injury, you apologize and compensate me) and punitive damages (you sell me something that previously injured someone else, knowing it is dangerous, and perhaps you even alter the records to hide the previous damage.)

True, and Delta settled to avoid an expensive lawsuit that they might have lost but I still say it's BS.

What if I rent a car and get bit by a brown recluse? Is that really the car rental agency's fault? What if I drove that car to a campground where brown recluses are known to live? In that case can I sue the rental agency AND the campground? Maybe I could sue the car manufacturer too, especially if I were the first person to rent it.

Spider in my apartment? Sue the landlord! Spider in a bunch of bananas the day after I buy them? Sue the grocery store, Chiquita AND my landlord!

Yes, you could sue all those people, for all those reasons. Even if you were unsuccessful or frivolous, at some point they'd probably have to defend the suits. That's why America is such a great place for lawyers.

Dealing with a brown recluse bite is an issue of wound management. A careful cleaning and a prisma pad and she'd have been fine.

And so every airline should come with a qualified doctor and medical supplies for every freak emergency?

I don't like spiders and would like to be bitten by a venomous one even less. Unfortunately, there's no way a plane can be guaranteed insect/arachnid free, what are they going to do, douse everyone and the plane in raid? I'll bet a lot more people would be pretty ill if they did that.

I would normally take the side of the little guy and not the big corporation. But I really wish the airline hadn't settled, as I don't see how this woman could have won. Any of the passengers could have brought the spider onboard, including the woman herself. Other Farkers have said the same. But here's something no one has said -- how exactly could this woman prove that she received the bite on the plane and not before? Yes, she complained about the bite to a flight attendant, but she could have been bitten shortly before her flight and decided to claim it happened on the plane so she could have someone to sue.

But really, it just doesn't make sense that ANY entity should be held responsible for the presence of spiders or insects. Yes, perhaps if you could prove negligence -- if there had been complaints about an infestation and the business did nothing. But to expect that, if you go into a bar or onto a plane or into a store or anywhere, that place is completely free of any bugs -- ludicrous.

Owning a business should not obligate you to shut out every aspect of the real world. But it's like once a person steps foot onto someone else's property, they feel they should be guaranteed eternal life and perfect health -- and if they don't get those things it's the business's fault. A business is not a magicland where nothing bad should happen to the customers. The world is full of bugs. There are spiders everywhere. Don't like it? Tough.

I didn't say that it was necessarily the airline's fault, but it's pretty clear why she sued them.

She assumed, as many people would, that it was the airline's fault for not ensuring that the aircraft was free from things such as venomous spiders, but IMHO that's unrealistic. Brown recluses arre small and can easily conceal themselves. Even if the cabin had been thoroughly treated and examined one of the flight crew or another passenger could have inadvertently brought the spider on the plane in their clothing or luggage when boarding.

She could have brought the spider onboard herself in her clothing, carry-on, purse, etc. This type of spider generally doesn't bite unless something alarms it and then the bite is seen more as a defensive measure on the part of the brown recluse.

Shw was visiting family in NC and there are plenty of recluse in NC, one of them was kind enough to bite me while visiting there. It hurts.My money is on recluse in her handbag or other carry on.

Mambo Bananapatch:Happy Hours: MisterTweak: There's a difference between compensatory damages (I buy something from you, it causes an unexpected injury, you apologize and compensate me) and punitive damages (you sell me something that previously injured someone else, knowing it is dangerous, and perhaps you even alter the records to hide the previous damage.)

True, and Delta settled to avoid an expensive lawsuit that they might have lost but I still say it's BS.

What if I rent a car and get bit by a brown recluse? Is that really the car rental agency's fault? What if I drove that car to a campground where brown recluses are known to live? In that case can I sue the rental agency AND the campground? Maybe I could sue the car manufacturer too, especially if I were the first person to rent it.

Spider in my apartment? Sue the landlord! Spider in a bunch of bananas the day after I buy them? Sue the grocery store, Chiquita AND my landlord!

Yes, you could sue all those people, for all those reasons. Even if you were unsuccessful or frivolous, at some point they'd probably have to defend the suits. That's why America is such a great place for lawyers.

Oh yeah. We had a couple of scorpions once at the Disney hotel; the guests had just arrived from El Paso, meaning very likely the bugs had been having a scorpion vacation of their own and suddenly woke up in Anaheim, poor disgusting little monsters. Luckily the maids found them...but I recall that the guests, when advised to check all their suitcases and clothing, INSISTED the scorpions couldn't POSSIBLY have been in their luggage and they had to have been in the hotel all the time.

This is a tough one... while on one hand, it doesnt seem like you can really blame an airline for that.. but on the other hand, any and all businesses are expected to provide a safe environment... which includes pest control. If your child went into the ball pit at McDonalds and landed on a black widow nest... it IS at least partially McDonalds fault for not doing proper pest maintenance.

What's to say I don't get "bit" before I board my plane in a week. Claim I got bit on board when the swelling is nice and ripe and then profit? They just opened the floodgates.....I wish they would have told this lady that shiat happens or this was an act of God or something.